


Departing Together

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, Canon Divergence - Revenge of the Sith, Episode: s05e20 The Wrong Jedi, Gen, Snippets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 08:13:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10158407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Anakin called to Ahsoka for her to wait... and they take the 501st with them.





	

Anakin's hand tightened on the beads, weighing his entire life in that moment. Without a backwards glance, having made his choice, Anakin Skywalker followed his padawan. The others may have thought he was going to talk to her, going to try and convince her to return to them.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, however, felt something in the bond shift dramatically, and gasped out loud. "Anakin, no!" he called, moving to follow.

Anakin never even slowed down, already tapping on his comm, routing it through Artoo for an extra layer of security, to contact the 501st. He couldn't do anything for the majority of the GAR, but he had ideas on what to do for his own men.

"Ahsoka, wait up!" he called, once he had done that. She tensed, but she did turn to face him, touching something in the bond between them. "You're right. But… we've got a responsibility to the men, right? So how about you help me with something, just you, me, and the 501st?"

"I'm listening…."

* * *

The Republic, namely the Chancellor, did not want to let it get around that an entire capital ship, its complement of fighters, the battalion assigned to it, and the Jedi general had vanished into the depths of space. The Jedi Council had promptly launched their own inquiry and search, as soon as Plo got to Admiral Yularen and learned how the troopers had overcome the skeleton Fleet crew and launched them on autopilot into a harmless course, with their communication equipment fried.

None of the Fleet standard tracking devices installed in ships were registering to the pings for their location.

Obi-Wan had even gone so far as to question Padmé, but was convinced she knew nothing, given the frayed edges their conversation turned up.

Five standard days after the sudden disappearance of the 501st, Obi-Wan received a heavily encrypted, locked-to-him file. After a painstaking several hours dissecting it, there was an emergency Council, conducted through the auspices of the telepaths so it was untraceable. It took the Jedi serving among the men another three days to implement the solution to the information sent, yet Obi-Wan was left without any further comfort than knowing his men were now safe from a Sith manipulation.

Where was Anakin?

* * *

The lack of official intel did not stop the 501st from serving their new mandate, issued amongst themselves, without any kriffing chips to insure obedience. If Tup hadn't had that headache, if Ahsoka hadn't pushed for a full medical review after the way he'd looked at her with such hostility, they would have been dead when the chips were activated.

They were a rogue unit, outlaws and deserters… and the men couldn't be happier. Anakin fretted some; he had led his men into this, and there would be no hero's welcome for them in the end. Still, they were ready to do whatever it took to protect the innocent. Their best intel analysts, using more illegal means of slicing once Anakin had stopped off and acquired a 'teacher' for them, were compiling the most damaging targets for them to attack in Separatist space.

They were no longer defenders.

This was going to be a war of aggression, now.

* * *

During combat operations, the 501st always kept an ear and eye on the comm bands and sensors. The first sign of Republic presence in their theater saw them scramble back to the _Resolute_ , often leaving a half-crippled Separatist fleet behind for the Republic to deal with.

The first time the 212th was the unit moving into their theater, Obi-Wan actually dispatched scouts as he engaged the battle, telling them to try and pursue the 501st. None of the three pilots were able to pick up the trail quickly enough to get headings that panned out, and Obi-Wan was left with the deep frustration of knowing Anakin was still fighting for the end of the war… if not for the Republic.

* * *

The incident with Tup had sent Ahsoka into a tailspin of realization and aftermath reaction bad enough that when Anakin found her with Rex, the two men had wound up curling around her in one berth, letting her finally sleep herself out in the safest place she knew. Figuring out that **Obi-Wan** had sent scouts after them had sent Anakin into a worse tailspin than finding out his men had been chipped, which had led to another night of a shared berth, this time with Ahsoka curled in Anakin's arms and Rex along his back, keeping him calm.

It wasn't anything beyond comfort, beyond a need for the illusion of safety. The ex-slave's issues had been trampled on. The former padawan's concept of order had been broken. The soldier's worst imaginings had proven true. It didn't matter they were taking steps to fix all of that. 

They had their men and ship… and they had each other, to try and maintain something like sanity.

* * *

The Chancellor was becoming worried. At first, his Chosen Apprentice's antics with his stolen property had actually worked in his favor. It had caused more dissent and mistakes within the Jedi Order. However, he needed to institute the final phases of his master plan, and that… meant he needed Anakin Skywalker.

Fortunately, he realized Amidala was hiding a secret, and set about scheming to put her in danger again.

Unfortunately for him, Obi-Wan had already been made aware of the secret, and detailed an elite team of commandos to keep her safe.

End results included a dazed Cad Bane, two dead bounty hunter assistants, and one Jedi Order, at Obi-Wan's behest, finally investigating **why** Senator Amidala always seemed to wind up at the crux of life-threatening plots.

Palpatine realized for the first time in many years that his plan didn't have all contingencies covered.

* * *

There'd been a close call with the 327th, and in fleeing them, the 501st ran into a Separatist fleet larger than the ones Anakin usually was willing to risk, when all of their supplies and repairs were through their own skills and using whatever they captured from the Seppies to barter on Rim worlds.

Per their standard operations, the slicers were doing their best to pull the data from the Seppies, even as Anakin fought conservatively to gain them a window to jump to hyperspace again. 

The Separatists broke off the engagement and pulled away into hyperspace before that became a possibility, leading to Ahsoka vaulting down to their chief analyst.

"They got called to ignore us and proceed with their mission," the slicer said, looking puzzled. 

Next to him, his partner spoke up. "I think I unscrambled the mission goal. It's Coruscant."

Ahsoka looked back up at Anakin from the data pit, and waited, as every brother did. He looked back at her, seeing in the lines of her lekku she would fight for Coruscant, and wondered why. Then he thought of Padmé, and realized she was thinking of those younglings she had grown up as a 'big sister' to, and the masses of people in the sub-levels who had never had a choice in their lives.

"Helm, pursue."

* * *

Keeping the _Resolute_ in as much of one piece as he could was proving damned difficult, Rex decided. Taking a page from earlier campaigns, he asked for tank crew volunteers and put their tanks on the hull as extra gunnery nests, which helped. He spotted the 91st and the 212th in the fight; fortunately they were accepting the aid without question. He only hoped that extended to their escape when — not if — this battle finished. However, all soldiers had been told to insist they had been taken unlawfully, to gain leniency. Only the officers would face court-martial, if that was what it came to, for desertion.

Those worries were for later, as Rex worked the battle from the bridge, listening to his men die for a world that didn't care for them. He understood why they were doing this; if Coruscant fell, the entire galaxy would be worse off. But it still stung, as much as it had cut across Anakin's soul to assist the Order like this.

Yet if Ahsoka, vilified by the press and hung out for execution by the Order could come back here, Rex would stand by her.

Or worry his head off over her as she and Anakin tried to reach the ship that intel said both Grievous and the captured Chancellor were on.

* * *

Obi-Wan could not believe the first thought he had was that Ahsoka was taller. Nor that the second was that Anakin needed a haircut or a hair tie.

He never wanted to see fear in his former padawan's eyes, or the naked protective hostility in his grand-padawan's. Not ever again, he informed the Force, even as he tried to disarm the situation so they could cooperate.

"Fancy seeing you both here. Come for the tea, or the mayhem?" he quipped. "I hear there's a special on the bridge. Beat a cyborg, free a politician, maybe win most of the war."

It was just the right note, apparently, as Anakin's face smoothed, and he snorted. That made Ahsoka stand down from her hostile stance, before she struck a listening pose. 

"Move," she hissed. The Kenobi-and-Skywalker team, plus one, set about trying to save the galaxy, yet again.

* * *

On the one hand, his plan had worked, and Skywalker was back within Palpatine's reach.

On the other, he had that sharp little Togruta pest still, and Kenobi was involved. Per the plan, Kenobi would be neutralized.

The plan broke in the middle, as Tano reacted without thinking, or so it seemed to the Chancellor. Dooku had barely even stepped in, Kenobi hadn't finished his banter, Skywalker was still issuing a threat… and the pest was in motion, dual blades singing as she engaged the magna-guards and left Dooku to the elder men.

It looked like a rescue was going to happen, unless Dooku or he managed to take control of the situation again.

He wasn't anticipating Grievous joining the mix because of Tano's presence, or the absolute chaos that the battle became from there. The athletic ex-padawan was able to dispatch both magna-guards quicker than Dooku or Grievous thought possible, leading to a signal between them. The cyborg general went after Tano, forcing their fight ever closer to where the Chancellor was. The smaller fighter was holding her own when Grievous moved to execute the Chancellor suddenly.

Two things happened as one: Ahsoka stretched herself into the Force to defend the 'helpless prisoner', and Palpatine's self-defense instincts kicked in, causing him to spout off lightning. That served to fry Ahsoka's nerves, making her drop, while Grievous's components began to smoke and pop, overcome by the energy.

Anakin and Obi-Wan had just a moment to process what had just happened, that they had a Sith at their backs, before Dooku decided to retreat rather than face the consequences of his and Grievous's attempted treachery.

"New plan, other Sith," Anakin growled, murder in his eyes as he saw his padawan was not moving, and a man he had considered as his friend was the reason.

* * *

"…and all of this thanks to the tireless efforts of the 501st, General Skywalker, and Commander Tano. Their operation had to be excessively secret, given the level of treachery we were facing," Obi-Wan finished smoothly as the two named individuals tried not to squirm, Ahsoka being mostly held up by Artoo under one hand and Anakin's arm around her waist.

Mace didn't look like he was buying it. Bail Organa did, though, and that was what was important. Obi-Wan would lie the brave souls of the _Resolute_ and their leadership into the sainthood of a primitive religion if that was what it took to begin making amends for what they had been through. 

He even managed not to look terribly surprised when they, and Artoo, vanished almost before the meeting was fully dispersed, having caught a glimpse of someone waiting for Anakin.

Somehow, he would prevent them from running off again, even if neither one accepted the Order back in their lives. He couldn't endure anything like the last six months ever again.

And there was a baby that was going to need a father and an aunt, plus a slew of uncles.

* * *

"What now?"

Ahsoka asked it, and Rex sighed softly, while Anakin frowned.

"Padmé needs me," he said.

"Someone has to fight for my brothers," Rex told her.

Ahsoka nodded, then closed her eyes. It still stung, everything with the Order. Could she go back? Her emotions said 'no', but she could never leave Anakin or Rex or the boys.

"I don't want to be their kind of Jedi." She took a deep breath. "So I suppose, Skyguy, you and me need to change what a Jedi is. Before your kid gets here."

"Padmé's baby," and Anakin stressed that, even as he marveled at having helped make new life, "isn't going near that Order without some massive changes. Including not taking kids from their families. But yeah, Snips. We'll do that. Change them… or make our own." He then reached out to Rex, gripping his shoulder. "And you won't be fighting alone, brother."

Rex nodded, covering the hand while reaching for Ahsoka's. She gave it willingly, squeezing. "All three of us will be fighting for each other, and them."

"You got that right," Ahsoka said fervently.

It was going to be a hard future… but they had each other.


End file.
